The world just experienced the first full year in which global temperatures exceeded 1.5C above pre-industrial times, scientists said on Friday.
The planet’s average temperature in 2024 was 1.6 degrees Celsius higher than in 1850-1900, the “pre-industrial period” before humans began burning CO2-emitting fossil fuels on a large scale, C3S said. The first year above 1.5C does not breach that target, which measures the longer-term average temperature.
In 2024, Bolivia and Venezuela also suffered disastrous fires, while torrential floods hit Nepal, Sudan and Spain, and heatwaves in Mexico and Saudi Arabia killed thousands. The US experienced 24 climate and weather disasters in 2024 in which the cost of damages exceeded $1 billion, including Hurricanes Milton and Helene, according to the National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration.